The Animorph Chronicles: 1 The Invasion
by Gryphinwyrm7
Summary: AU: A single life can change the course of history, a single strand in the timeline can shift the balence of power between the Andalites, Yeerks and Humans. Based on Alternamorphs 1, and to a lesser degree Stargate SG1
1. Chapter 1

**The Animorph Chronicles,**

**An Alternate History of the Animorphs**

_By_

_Gryphonwyrm7_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs, Alternamorphs, The Andalite Chronicles, The Hork-Bajir Chronicles, the Visser Chronicles, The Ellimist Chronicles, or Stargate SG-1. This is an alternate history of the Animorphs. A single life can change the course of history. These books will start off in a manner similar enough to the original series, but it will eventually become clear that this is headed in a different direction than what happened in the books. It is a parallel universe to the Animorphs, but more than just the addition of my OC Derek, much more is different about this universe than initially meets the eye, as you will begin to see. Flame me or praise me, but don't not-review me._

My name is Derek. I can't tell you my last name. I don't know what it is. Kidding. I know my last name, but you can't. It could be Asgard, or Littleton, or Coffin. Derek Coffin. That's got a nice ring. But my name isn't Coffin…or is it? That's for me to know and you to never find out.

See if I told you my last name, then they would find me. I _really _don't want them to find me. Who's "them" you ask? Why I'm so glad you asked, but in order for you to fully understand I'm going to start at the beginning.

It all started when I decided to do some trick riding in the construction site across the street from the mall. I knew I shouldn't be doing it. I knew that I was supposed to be home at least twenty minutes ago. It's getting dark. The smart thing to do, the only thing really was to ride my bike along the bike path like a law abiding citizen. All the way home.

But I didn't. I'm a bit of an off-road cycling freak, so I headed for the construction site. How many times had my mom told me not to do that? Like a million. "It's dangerous," she'd said. Deep pits filled with water, cinder block obstacles, dips, and down hill runs.

In other words: Highly cool.

Last Saturday I'd chosen a spot and yanked away the worst debris. I'd made this sort of single-track loop. It ha a killer rolling dip and a log made out of cinder blocks that you can jump. You know what I'm talking about? When I'm on it I pretend that I'm in one of those biking clubs that my mom wouldn't let me join because they're to dangerous.

Ha! Dangerous, mom if only you knew what I was up to now. Have I got a story for you. Only I can never, _ever_ tell you. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Anyway, there I was going around and around the track, faster and faster. There's just barely enough light to see.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw dark figures moving. I stopped my bike, see I was a little nervous. I could have been a band of homeless guys who live here in the construction site. Then I recognized them. They were some kids from school. Kids that I knew. Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias. I didn't know them all that well, except maybe Marco. He sat next to me in science and he makes jokes under his breath all during class. Thanks to him I was barely pulling a C.

I also kinda knew Rachel. OK I didn't really know Rachel, but her friend Melissa sat in front of me in math class, and well… I kinda have this huge crush on her. Melissa not Rachel.

I thought about yelling "hey!" but I didn't want to scare them. And they looked like such a group, somehow. I didn't even know that they were all friends. I felt a little bit left out, even though they didn't see me. I'm not all that great at making friends. My dad's in the army, so we end up moving a lot. I eventually kind of gave up on the whole friends thing. I didn't see the point if I just ended up losing them after I moved.

Or maybe it was because I spend most of my time riding around a makeshift track.

The group moved away and I kept circling the track, trying to get some killer laps in before dinner.

I was rounding the track for the last time, flying over the cinder block log, when I saw it. A light. It was moving fast. Way faster than any airplane or helicopter. I'd have to call the light _blue_, even though I don't think I've ever seen that shade of blue before. It was a blue that was almost white, except that it registered as more blue than any blue I'd ever seen. 

I know that that doesn't make much sense, but neither did the light.

I just stood there, with my mouth gaping like a fish and I watched it come closer. I saw that the light had a shape. It looked like an egg with two stubby wings. The blue light was coming from a shaft at the end. And suddenly I knew what it was.

It was a UFO. I knew it. Ironically I never held much stock in those things till right now. It wasn't because I watched the _X-Files_, because I didn't. It was because every hair on my head was standing on end.

And of course instead of running away like a normal person I ran straight towards it. I kept out of sight behind a tumble of masonry and cinder blocks. That's when I noticed Jake, Tobias, Marco, Cassie, and Rachel. Rachel's long blond hair was standing straight out from her head, so at least I wasn't alone.

My heart pounded as the UFO landed, the others huddled together. I couldn't hear them, but I knew that they were wondering what to do, just like me.

That's when I hear Tobias's voice.

"Please come out. We won't hurt you."

(I know.)

That voice was in my head! I hadn't heard it with my ears.

Marco and Jake exchanged a glance, Tobias looked at Rachel. They all stared at each other. They'd heard it too.

"Can you come out?" Tobias asked in his loud, talking-to-aliens voice.

(Yes. Do not be frightened.)

"We won't be frightened," Tobias said.

"Speak for yourself," I heard Jake mutter.

I peered through a crack in the half wall. A creature stepped out of the ship. For a moment I thought of a Ballet dancer which was ridiculous because he had four hoofs. He also had blue fur, and four eyes, two of them on two little horns that come out of his head. A head with no mouth. Definitely alien though. That was why he spoke through thoughts.

Oh, and the tail. I couldn't keep my eyes off of the tail. Or rather the long scythe blade on the end of it that looks as though it could do some serious damage.

Now here's the funny thing: I wasn't that scared. Not really. First of all there was a nice solid wall between the alien and me. And somehow, I suspected that he wouldn't hurt me.

(You're right,) I heard in my head. (So you can come out. You don't have to hide.)

I jerked my head around wildly.

(Yes, I'm talking to you,) he said.

You know that line just a paragraph or so up. The line about me not being scared? Well forget about it. Now I was terrified.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

I stepped out from behind the wall.

"Whoa," Marco said, "Another Alien. Let the games begin."

His voice was shaking, I knew that he was scared too. I went and stood next to the others, the alien stumbled a bit and then fell out of the ship to the ground. Tobias tried to grab him and hold him up, but the alien slipped from his grasp and fell back to the dirt.

"Look!" Cassie cried. She pointed at a burn that covered half of the alien's right side. "He's hurt!"

(Yes. I am dying.) he said.

"Can we help you? We can call an ambulance or something," Marco said.

We can bandage that wound," Cassie said. "Jake give me your shirt. We can tear it up and make bandages." This confused me for a moment before I remembered that Cassie's parents were both vets and she was totally into animals. Not that this was an animal though.

(No. I will die the wound is fatal.)

"NO!" Jake cried. "You can't die. You're the first alien ever to come to earth. You can't die." Jake sounded extremely upset. Tell you the truth so was I, I felt like this alien was an old friend or my grandpa or something. It hurt me to think of him on his deathbed.

(I am not the first. There are many, many others.)

"Other aliens? Like you?" Tobias demanded.

The alien shook his big head slowly, side to side. (Not like me.)

Then he cried out in horrible pain, a silent sound that echoed horrible inside my head. For a brief instant I actually felt him dying.

(Not like me,) he repeated. (They are different.)

"Different How?" Jake asked.

I will always remember his next six words, for as long as I live.

(They have come to destroy you.)

It sent chills down my spine. The way that nobody tried to deny him. No one argued. No one doubted. He was trying to warn us of something terrible.

(They are called _Yeerks_. They are different from us. Different from you, as well.)

"Are you telling us that they are already here on Earth?" Rachel demanded. (Many are here. Hundreds. Maybe more.)

"Why hasn't anybody noticed them?" Marco asked reasonably. "I think that someone would have mentioned it at school."

(You do not understand. Yeerks are different. They have no body, like yours or mine. They live in the bodies of other species. They are…)

I guess he couldn't think of a word to explain the Yeerks, so he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. Suddenly a bright picture popped into my head. I saw a gray-green slimy thing lime a snail without its shell, only bigger, the size of a rat, maybe. It wasn't a pretty picture.

"I'm guessing that that was a Yeerk," Marco said. "Either that or a very big wad of slimy chewing gum."

(They are almost powerless without hosts. They--)

I felt a blast of pain, straight from the alien. I could also feel his sadness. He knew that his time was nearly up.

(Yeerks are parasites. They must have a host to live in. In this form they are known as Controllers. They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the host's thoughts and feelings. They try to get the host to accept them voluntarily. It is easier that way. Otherwise tha host may be able to resist, at least a little.)

"Are you saying that they take over _human _beings?" Rachel demanded. "People? These things take over their bodies?"

"Look this is serious stuff," Jake said. "You shouldn't be telling us. We're just kids, you know. This is like something that the government should know about."

(We Andalites fight the Yeerks,) He said, (Following them wherever they go.)

"Good," I said, "So you'll kick their butts and we don't have to worry."

(Yes you do.) The Andalite said. (We had hoped to stop them. Swarms of their Bug Fighters were waiting when our Dome ship came out of Z-Space. We knew of their mother ship and were ready for the Bug fighters, but the Yeerks surprised us—they had hidden a powerful Blade ship in a crater of your moon. We fought, but…we lost. They have tracked me here. They will soon be here to eliminate all traces of me and my ship)

"How can they do that?" Cassie asked.

The Andalite seemed to smile with his eyes.

(Their Dracon beams will leave nothing behind but a few molecules of this ship, and…this body,) he said. (I sent a message to me home world. My people will send help, but it may take a year, even more, and by the Yeerks will have control of this planet. After that there is no hope. You must tell people. You _must _warn your people.)

"They'll have control of the planet within a year," I said dubiously, "That's impossible!" I blurted.

(I have seen what they are capable of,) the Andalite replied. I turned stone cold at the way he said it.

"Forget it," Marco said, "Derek's right, cause no one is ever going to believe us," Marco said hopelessly. He looked at Jake and shook his head. "No way."

"I don't care if he _thinks_ he's going to die, we have to try and help him," Rachel said. "We can get him to a hospital. Or maybe Cassie's parents…"

(There is no time. No time,) The Andalite said. Then his eyes brightened. (Perhaps…)

"What?" I asked.

(Go into my ship. You will see a small blue box, very plain. Bring it to me. Quickly! I have very little time, and the Yeerks will find me soon.)

We all looked at each other. Who was going to be the one to go into the ship? Somehow we all seemed to agree that it would be Jake. Except Jake.

"Go ahead," Tobias said. "I want to stay with him" He knelt beside the Andalite and placed a comforting hand on the alien's narrow shoulder.

"Go ahead," Cassie said to Jake, "You're not scared."

Jake looked a little nervous but he disappeared inside, and a moment later reappeared with the box.

"Here is the box," Jake said.

(Thank you.)

"I, um…was that your family? That picture?"

(Yes, my parents, and my brother.)

"I'm real sorry," Jake said.

(There is something that I may be able to do to help you fight the Yeerks.)

"What?" Rachel and I asked at the same time.

(I know that you are young. I know that you have no power with which to resist the Yeerks. But I may be able to give you some small powers that may help.)

We all looked at each other. All except Tobias, who never took his gaze off of the Andalite.

(If you wish I can give you powers that no human being has ever had.)

"Powers?" I asked.

(It is a piece of Andalite technology that the Yeerks do not have.) The Andalite explained. (A technology that enables us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the universe—the power to _morph_. We have never shared this power. But your need is great.)

"Morph? Morph how?" Rachel asked, her eyes narrowed.

(To change your bodies,) the Andalite said. (To become any other species. Any animal.)

Marco laughed derisively. "Become animals? You've got to be kidding."

I knew that Marco wasn't the most accepting person in the world.

(You will need only to touch a creature, to acquire its DNA pattern, and you will be able to become that creature. It requires concentration and determination, but, if you are strong, you can do it. There are…limitations. Problems. Dangers, even. But there is not time to explain it all…no time. You will have to learn for yourselves. But first, do you wish to receive this power?)

"He's kidding right?" Marco asked Jake.

"No," Tobias said softly. "He's not kidding."

"This is nuts," Marco said. "This whole thing is nuts. Yeerks and spaceships and slugs taking over peoples brains and Andalites and the power to change into animals? Give me a large personal break."

"Yeah it's beyond weird," Jake agreed.

"We're off the map of weirdness by this point," Rachel said. "But unless we're all just dreaming it think that we'd better deal with this."

"_I'll _do it," Cassie said.

"I think we should decide together," Jake said, "One way or the other."

"What's that?" Rachel suddenly asked. She was looking up towards the stars. Far, far overhead two pinpoints of bright red light were shooting across the sky.

(Yeerks.) The Andalite said. And the air quivered with hatred that came from one little word.

To Quillian—Thanks, I hope that you enjoy future installments.

To Seeker of the Soul—I gotta admit your review took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting any of the reviewers from my Yu-Gi-Oh fics to follow me here. No one read my Gargoyles fics so it was a surprise to see your name on the review. I am suffering from a dry spell in the Yu-Gi-Oh department, I can write the chapters, but they don't feel right so I'm waiting till I get inspired again. My sister and I started reading Animorphs (re-reading for me) and I felt inspired. Truth be told your fiction was also one of the primary influences for this…an alternate universe where things are the same, the players are the same (plus or minus a few) but things are different. I hope you continue to enjoy this.

PS: As for keeping to KAA's style…well I'm lifting lines right out of the books (Animorphs #1: The Invasion, and Alternamorphs #1: The First Journey) in order to make these as close to the original Animorphs as possible. There will come a point in the not so distant future though where my series will diverge from the Animorphs path, and I'll be on my own.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

(Yeerks!) Hissed the silent voice in our heads.

The twin red lights slowed. They turned in a circle and came back towards us.

(There is no more time. You must decide!)

"We have to do this," Tobias said slowly. "How else are we going to fight these Controllers?"

"This is insane!" Marco said. "Insane."

"I'd like more time, but we don't have that choice," Rachel said. "I'm for it."

"Me too," I said, "You never have to be afraid to do what's right!"

"What do you say Jake?" Cassie asked him. It was weird, but I think right then was when I realized that Jake was our leader. I knew I couldn't do it, I wasn't that kind of person.

He looked around at each of us…sizing up his team I guess.

"We have to," Tobias said to Jake.

I held my breath, and another realization hit me. Jake was our leader; we weren't going to do this without his OK.

"Yes," Jake said. "We have no choice."

(Then each of you press your hand against one of the sides of the cube.)

We did, six hands pressed against the square. Then a seventh hand, on top of Tobias's, with way too many fingers.

(Do not be afraid,) The Andalite said.

I felt a shock wave run from my fingers up my arm and into my body. It didn't hurt. It actually felt nice, like a warm buzz of comfort.

But then a third ship appeared alongside the red lights. It was larger. Blacker than black, it was a piece of a starless night sky. It was a strange shape.

Later Jake would say that it looked like a medieval battle-ax. All I knew was that there was a feeling rolling out from its surface that I can only describe as evil. I'd only felt the feeling once before, after going to Germany with my parents and visiting one of the sites of the holocaust. Where my grandmother had been kept.

But that was residual evil. The evil that was there wasn't alive anymore, Thank God. This was evil alive and kicking.

(Go now,) The Andalite said. (Only remember this—never remain in animal form for more than two of your Earth hours. Never! That is the greatest danger of the morphing! If you stay longer than two hours you will be trapped, unable to return to human form.)

"Two hours," Jake repeated.

Suddenly the Andalite looked up with one of his stalk eyes, and noticed the evil ship.I felt fear rush through him.

(Visser Three! He comes.)

"What?" Jake asked, shuddering as we all felt this new terror. "What's a Visser? Who's a Visser?"

(Go now! Run! Visser Three is here. He is the most deadly of your enemies. Of all Yeerks he alone has the power to morph. The same power you now have. Run!)

"No, we'll stay with you," Rachel said firmly. "Maybe we can help."

Again the Andalite smiled with his eyes. (No. You must save yourselves. Save yourselves and your planet! The Yeerks are here.)

"But how are we supposed to fight these…these controllers."

(You must find a way. Now run!)

Tobias stayed behind for a moment, but the rest of us took off. I felt the urgency and the power of the Andalite's order.

Suddenly my hand was glowing. It was in a circle of white-hot light coming from the ship. I snatched my hand back, out of the light, and ran. With a burst of strength the six of us leapt over the half wall that I had been hiding behind before. My knees hit the ground hard, but I barely felt the pain.

Now the searchlight from the ship illuminated the dying Andalite prince.

"Okay, you can wake me up now," Marco whispered, "I've had enough of this dream."

The two Bug fighters slowly descended, followed by the Blade Ship.

The Blade ship door opened, and Cassie started to scream. Fortunately Jake had more sense than I had at the time and clamped his hand over her mouth. I didn't scream, but I'm certain a wet my pants.

They leapt from the ship, whirling and thrusting and slicing the air. These creatures looked like walking weapons. The stood on two bent back legs and had two very long arms. On each arm there were curved horn blades at their bent back knees, and two more blades at the end of their tails. They had feet like a t-rex.

But it was the head that got your attention. They had long snake like necks, a mouth almost like a falcon's beak and, from the forehead three dagger-like horns raked forward.

(Hork-Bajir-Controllers.)

"Did you guys…?" Jake asked.

We all nodded but said nothing more.

(The Hork-Bajir are a good people, despite their fearsome looks,) The Andalite said. (But they have been enslaved by the Yeerks. Each of them now carries a Yeerk in their head. They are to be pitied.)

"Pity. Right," Rachel said grimly. "They're walking killing machines. Look at them."

But a new form that crept and slithered and shimmied out of the Blade ship drew our attention away.

(Taxxon-Controllers,) The Andalite said. He was trying to prepare us; even at the very end he was trying to let us know what we were up against.

(The Taxxons are evil.) The Andalite said, (Unlike the Hork-Bajir they chose to allow the Yeerks to control them. Each one now has a Yeerk voluntarily.)

The Hork-Bajir and the Taxxons poured out from the Blade ship, and spread out like well-trained Marines. They held small pistol like weapons. They formed a ring around the Andalite and his ship.

Suddenly one of the Hork-Bajir leapt towards us, and in a flash he was practically on top of us.

I held my breath. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I had to get away.

(Silence!) The Andalite warned us. (Hork-Bajir do not see well in darkness but their hearing is very good.)

I swear I went my pants again.

(Courage my friends.)

And then, a warm feeling seeped in, like a curl of warm water swirling around me. The Andalite sent us courage.

I needed the courage, because now I had to watch him die.

"They're all standing at attention," Jake whispered.

"How can you tell," Marco whispered back "Who knows when a jelly-eyed centipede or a walking Salad Shooter from Hell is standing at attention?"

Then _he _appeared.

Visser Three was an Andalite. Or at least he was an Andalite-Controller.

"What the…" Rachel said. "Isn't that an Andalite?"

"No," I whispered, "This one's different."

(Only once has a Yeerk been able to take an Andalite body,) Our Andalite said, (There is only one Andalite-Controller. That one is Visser Three.)

He looked like an ordinary Andalite I guess, based on my vast experience with the species, but he felt different. He felt evil.

(Well, well,) Visser Three said.

I wet my pants for the third time that night when I "heard" that.

"Can he hear our thoughts?" Cassie whispered.

"If he can we are so dead I don't even want to think about it," Rachel told her.

(He cannot hear your thoughts,) the Andalite said. (As long as you don't direct them to him. You hear his thoughts because he is broadcasting them for all to hear. This is a great victory for him so he wants all to hear.)

(What have we here? A meddling Andalite?) I got the sense that Visser Three and our Andalite had some kind of history, like this was not the first time they had met.

(And no ordinary Andalite warrior. Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, if I'm not mistaken. An honor to meet you. You're a legend. How many of our fighters have you shredded? Seven, or was it eight by the time the battle ended?)

I don't know if the others saw it, but it seemed like banter to me. As if the Visser was mocking Elfangor, I was certain that this was not their first meeting.

(The very last Andalite in this sector of space. Yes I'm afraid that your Dome ship has been completely destroyed. Completely. I watched it burn as it fell into the atmosphere of this little world.)

(There will be others,) Elfangor said

(Yes, and when they come it will be too late. Earth is an out of the way planet; there is no Stargate here. By the time that they reach earth it will be too late. This world will be mine. My own contribution to the Yeerk Empire. Our greatest conquest, and then I'll be Visser _One_.)

(What do you want with these Humans?) The Andalite asked. I think he may have asked for our benefit. (You have your Taxxon allies. You have your Hork-Bajir slaves. As well as your Ssstram, Nahara, and Mak slaves. Why these people?)

(Because there are so many and they are so weak,) Visser Three sneered. (Billions of bodies! And they have no idea what's happening. With this many hosts we can spread throughout the galaxy, unstoppable! Billions of us. We'll have to build a thousand new Yeerk Pools just to raise Yeerks for half this number of bodies. Face it Elfangor, you have fought well and bravely. But you have lost.)

Visser Three stepped right up to the Andalite. I could feel the Andalite's fear, but rather than cower he fought the pain of his wound and climbed to his feet. He knew he was going to die, but he wanted to die standing, looking his enemy in the face.

The Visser however was not done taunting his foe. (I promise you one thing Elfangor—when we have this planet with its rich harvest of bodies, we will move against the Andalite home world. I will personally hunt down your family. And I will personally oversee the placement of my most faithful lieutenants in their heads. I hope that they resist so that I can hear their minds scream.)

The Andalite struck!

His tail whipped up and over so fast that you could hardly see it. The Visser twisted his head aside. The Andalites tail blade missed the Visser's head by a bare half-inch. But it sliced into his shoulder. Blood—or something like blood sprayed from the wound.

(Aaaaaarrrrrgh!) I could hear Visser Three's howl of pain in my head.

At the same time a blinding beam of blue light shot from the "tail" of the Andalite's ship. It vaporized the nearest Bug fighter. Hork-Bajir and Taxxons scattered.

(Fire!) Visser Three ordered. (Burn his ship!)

Red beam shot out from the Blade ship and remaining Bug fighter. The ship let off a minor explosion and when the smoke cleared it was gone.

I heard Jake and Marco whispering but I couldn't hear what they said. Or else didn't care.

(Take the Andalite,) Visser Three ordered his soldiers. (Hold him for me.)

Three big Hork-Bajir grabbed Elfangor and held him down. Their wrist blades at his throat. They didn't kill him. That was Visser Three's privilege.

Then Visser Three began to _morph._

Visser Three began to grow. His Andalite head grew large, larger. Much larger. The four horse-like legs merged into two and then expanded each becoming as big around as a redwood tree. The delicate Andalite arms sprouted and became tentacles.

"This isn't real," Cassie whispered.

In the hideously bloated head, a mouth appeared. It was filled with teeth as long as my arm. It became a monstrous terrifying grin.

The Andalite was gone. A monster was in its place. It was as though the Visser had become on the outside what he truly was on the inside.

Jake suddenly sprang to help the Andalite, but fortunately Rachel and I were able to grab him before he ended up doing something stupid.

It the last possible moment I looked away. I couldn't bear to watch the Andalite die. But I heard it. And I heard the screams in my head. But worse still were the THUK THUK sounds that the Hork-Bajir made and the laughter that came from the human-Controllers.

It sickened me inside. Those Humans and Hork-Bajir probably didn't find this funny anymore than I did. Yet they were forced to laugh because the Yeerks in their heads made them laugh.

The Visser demorphed back into his Andalite shape. (Ah,) he though-spoke, (nothing like a good Antarean Bogg morph for…taking a bite out of your enemies.)

Tobias bent over and gagged, and Marco began throwing up. Both completely understandable things to do under the circumstances, but in this case it could be fatal.

The nearby Hork-Bajir froze, his eyes raking the darkness. I knew that he couldn't see us. But he most certainly could hear us.

Suddenly our semi-safe hiding place was safe no more. Our lives were in mortal peril.

To Seeker: That's very cool. I too was one of the earlier fans of the series. Obviously not as early as you, but I followed it from the beginning. The very first book was in my book-order in sixth grade and I saw it and thought "Oh that looks kind of cool." I was into Kratt's Creatures and I liked animals (always have: going into zoology as a career) and I bought it without fully realizing what it was. I was hooked after reading it. It was also a huge influence on me as a writer. The three writers who shaped the way that I write are K. A. Applegate, C. S. Lewis, and my mom. Though I have yet to read the last two Animorphs books I do know the outline of what happens in them. As for Everworld, no I probably won't write a fic. I enjoyed the books though I never made it past book 7. (Lack of money and a nearby library, not lack of a desire) though I did leave little tributes to Everworld in Wrath, one of which I believe that you caught. Though you never know what I'll write next.

To Quillian—Yes I love Tyrsis's fics both of them, you should check out the stories I have listed under my favorites, but my universe is a little different from his. For one in my universe the Andalites, the Chee, and the Yeerks are aware of the Stargates and what they do, and in Tyrsis's it doesn't seem like they do. However in both our world the Andalites and the Yeerks are unaware of the Goa'ould. They've only gone to a few worlds within one arm of the galaxy. But fear not the Goa'ould will meet the Yeerks soon, and there will be a parasite party for those involved. Mwahahaha!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

I don't know who panicked first. Maybe it was me. It was possible that it was all of us. Maybe we'd just had about as much fear and horror and terror that we could stand. It was like an electric shock went through us. Suddenly I was running faster than I ever knew I could run.

"Split up!" Jake yelled, "They can't follow all of us!"

I bolted veering off from the others. I don't know what happened to them next. I do know that they all made it though.

I knew the construction site pretty well. The prince had said that Hork-Bajir don't see very well in the dark, so I hugged the shadows. I could hear one of them behind me his blades whistling through the air.

I stumbled over a piece of rusted equipment. The Hork-Bajir was close. He couldn't see you but he could hear me. I stopped. I pressed myself flat against the wall behind me. A chunk of the wall fell off and I caught it in my cupped palm.

I broke out into a cold sweat, imagining the sound it would have made had it hit the ground. How the Hork-Bajir would flash in the air before tearing me apart…

Wait. It was a trick I'd seen like a million times in movies and on TV. Would he fall for it?

Then again do Hork-Bajir watch TV?

I grasped the stone with my fist. With my best effort I drew back and fired the thing like a fastball, way off to the right. I prayed that my plan worked, as I had never been all that good at baseball. I hear a soft _clunk_ as it fell.

The Hork-Bajir whipped his horned head around and took off after the sound, bounding like a kangaroo. Yeah. A kangaroo from hell.

I bolted in the opposite direction. My lungs were on fire, but I kept going. I vaulted over cinder blocks and debris, and I swung over little half built walls. I got to my mountain bike and then I really flew.

_Author's notes: _short chapter, this was originally going to be part of last chapter but I ran out of time to add it. But next chapter we can get into the really fun stuff starting with Derek's morphs.

To Seeker: In a sense this is where I diverged from book #1, but I'm still sticking to Alternamorphs #1 for a while. See we never got to see what happened to the character created in Alternamorphs #1 after it was written. While as a choose-your-own adventure type of book it wasn't that great as there was really only one safe path, Alt #2 was not a continuation as I'd hoped it would be, thus I have created Derek for this and have begun to develop a character. One who will begin to become clearer in time I hope, as my worst fear is Derek becoming a male Mary Sue.

To Quillian: Says who? The Goa'ould have ships. As do the Tok'ra the Asgard, and the Tollan. Besides I have this little alternate history of the Animorphs universe within the Stargate universe playing in the back of my mind. In it the Andalites developed Z-Space travel before they figured out how to operate their Stargate, which was buried in those coastal caves where the tail carvings were. When Ax finds out later that humans learned to operate their Stargate before they figured out Z-space travel, he stands by his assessment that humans do many things backwards. As of right now though the Yeerks and the Andalites believe that earth does not have a Stargate, as when the Andalites attempted to dial earth after they discovered the invasion the seventh symbol on their gate would not lock. They tried twice after that in the next two days as failed, so the Andalites chose to believe that earth had no gate, or else was buried. What did not occur to them was that earth's gate happened to be linked to a certain planet with black hole at the time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

I woke up the next morning feeling groggy. It was a dream of course. Had to be. A totally freaky dream that felt totally real. The worst nightmare that I'd ever had. Worse than when I was six and snuck downstairs and watched _Aliens _from behind the couch.If I told my mom about this dream she'd probably suggest counseling.

I could hear the vacuum going outside my door, and felt better. Vacuuming is so…normal. How could people go on vacuuming when horrible alien slugs were invading people's brains?

I peeked outside the door. My mom was vacuuming and my little sister ran out in a pink dress.

"How's this?" Lexie asked.

I remembered suddenly that Lexie's birthday party was today. I laughed, now totally reassured. Yesterday a six-year-old's birthday party would have been lame. Today it was just about the coolest thing in the world. Because it was normal.

My mom spotted me. "Derek, can you keep an eye on things here?" she asked. "I have to got to Dairy Queen to pick up the cake."

"You're picking up the cake?" I asked. My mom never buys store bought cakes. She's a city planner and works constantly but she's also got this thing about homemade cakes.

A fly buzzed in my face. I brushed it away.

"Emily is coming over to help, and after the party we're going to a meeting tonight," Mom said. "Can you baby-sit?"

"Sure," I said on the way to the kitchen. _Baby-sitting beats dodging aliens, _I thought.

Not that I dodged an alien with killer blades coming out of their wrists and elbows last night. No way. It was a dream.

I munched away on cereal, but it tasted like sawdust. I kept hearing Prince Elfangor's dying scream. I remembered those dagger teeth and what they did to him…

The spoon clattered in the bowl as my stomach heaved. I bent over, my face buried in my knees, and I took a deep breath.

That's when Marco walked into my kitchen.

"Really you don't have to bow," he said, "A simple 'Lord Marco' will do."

"Very funny," I said, "I felt kind of dizzy for a minute."

Marco slung one leg over a kitchen chair. "It isn't every day that you see an alien prince get turned into McFood," he said.

"So it wasn't a bad dream," I muttered.

"Not only that it gets worse," Marco said. "While you've been snoring, we've been morphing."

I stared at him. "No way."

"Way," he said, tossing his longish hair behind his shoulder. "I have been designated by our fearless leader, Jake, to recruit you. So far today Tobias has turned into a cat, Jake into the family dog, and Cassie into a truly awesome horse."

"I don't believe you," I said, but I didn't believe myself.

"Yeah, I didn't want to believe it, either," Marco said shrugging. "Considering that I'd like to remain alive long enough to get into an R-rated movie. But apparently everything that Prince Elfa-diddle told us is true. Which means we're all in big trouble."

"You mean there might be controllers around?" I whispered.

"Closer than you think," Marco said reaching for a banana. "Like Jake's brother. When I told Jake I thought Tom was a Controller, he went postal. I have the jaw to prove it." Marco rubbed his chin. "But it's the little things you notice. Tom just hasn't been acting like Tom. And he goes to meeting called The Sharing. It sounds totally bogus, but we're all going tonight. Jake says you should come, too."

"At least it'll get me out of baby-sitting," I said.

Marco peeled the banana and began to eat, suddenly he bent his knees and loped around the kitchen making monkey noises. I stared at him.

"Just kidding," he said grinning. I don't have a monkey morph yet. Just want you to stay on your toes."

Marco left and I started thinking about what he said about Controllers. If Jake's brother could be one, so could someone in my family.

What about my Mom?

She bought a cake for Lexie's birthday. Sure, it wouldn't sound like a big deal to most people. But I knew how weird it was. She hardly noticed Lexie's party dress. Plus didn't she say something about going to a meeting.

What if she was a Controller?

How would one find out? It hit me right then. The Andalite had given me powers. Why not use them? Any animal that I touched. The easiest animal for me to morph would be Lexie's hamster: Hamlet.

I walked to her room to get Hamlet so I could acquire him. Bad idea, because Lexie was in there getting ready for her party.

"Derek!" She shrieked as I opened the door. "Get out, get out, get out!"

"Wrong choice," I muttered as I backed away. Never cross a six-year-old on her birthday.

_What else could I become, _I thought. The fly that had been bothering me earlier buzzed past my face. I thought about it for about two seconds before I dismissed it. I didn't want to be a fly. Flies were disgusting. They ate poop, plus the new version of _The Fly _with Jeff Goldblum had been on TV the other night. It had been one of the grossest movies that I had ever seen.

No, no flies.

Humphries she was the key. She was known around the neighborhood as the Ferret Lady. She kept Ferrets as pets.

As soon as the party started I slipped out the door. Acquiring a ferret wasn't difficult. I just had to wait until Humphries went next do to complain. She left the back door open, and it was easy to slip inside and pick up one of the sleek furry creatures. It happily curled up next to my chest while I acquired it's DNA. It just took a little focus and the ferret went into a sort of trance.

Then I let the ferret go and focused my mind. I imagined the ferret in my head and the changes began. I shrank rapidly, my clothes falling all around me. I was morphing right out of my clothes.

It figured. Clothes weren't part of my DNA. Maybe if I focused hard enough the clothes would change with me. I concentrated hard on my clothes morphing with me. To my surprise, they did. My sweatpants and T-shirt vanished into my skin, becoming part of the ferret fur. My sandals didn't change though. I grabbed them as I was half morphed I tossed the sandals into Humphries back yard, behind the bush by her backdoor.

Then I let the changes continue. I grew fur and whiskers and tiny ferret claws. It was easy to figure out when I was done changing. The first thing that I noticed was my senses. The ferret couldn't see all that well, but the hearing was excellent, as was my sense of smell.

Then came the part that I didn't expect. The ferret mind came bubbling up underneath my own. As soon as I was morphed, I wanted to play with the other three ferrets. They were confused to see me, but they came over to sniff me, then chased me around the room.

The back door slammed. Ms Humphries stumped back in, a ferret draped over her chest. She looked at the ice-cream cake in her hand and shrugged. She dumped it into the kitchen trashcan.

"Empty calories," she muttered. "Not necessary."

That was odd. Was it a Controller thing to say? Or was the Ferret Lady even weirder than I thought? Everybody likes ice-cream cake right?

I curled up under the sofa so that she wouldn't notice that she had one extra ferret. But she doesn't pay any attention to her pets anyway. Another ferret brushed against her legs. She didn't pick it up, didn't coo at it, and didn't stroke it.

Weird? Or standard operating procedure?

The phone rang, and Humphries snatched it up.

"Yes."

A pause. "Yes. I'll be there. No I won't attract attention," she said, sounding irritable. "No more than usual. This host is apparently an eccentric."

It struck my like a thousand-volt wire in my ear: _this host._ Humphries was a Controller!

I shrank back under the sofa. I heard a creak above me as she sat down. I saw her feet and her thick soles loafers. She didn't move.

_What time is it? _I thought. How long had I been in ferret morph? I only had two hours! I watched as a shadow moved across the floor. How could I get out of the house without her noticing me?

The shadow touched the toe of her shoe and she got up.

"Time," she muttered. She stumped around the room, and I crept forward to watch. She slipped into her coat, and picked up a nearby canvas tote bag.

She started for the door and opened it. I could sneak out! I darted forward, but she suddenly spun around.

"Ferret Lady," she murmured. "Travels with a pet all the time."

And before I could move or react, she reached down and popped me into the tote bag! She zipped it partly shut. I could stick my nose out, but that was all. I was trapped, and the clock was ticking!

Humphries tossed the tote bag in the front seat of her car. I hit my head on the door handle.

(Ow!) I thought.

Humphries looked around wildly, then shrugged and started the car. I could _thought-speak_ just like the Andalite had. The others probably already knew this but it was a novelty to me.

But there were more pressing matters at the moment. I tried at the zipper with my paws. No go.

How long did I have left? I could just barely see the clock. Twenty minutes: to close for comfort.

The car stopped. Humphries slung me over her shoulder. I poked my nose out. We were at a beach parking lot. She's going to The Sharing meeting! At least the others would be there.

Humphries plopped the bag down on the sand. She trudged off to speak to a knot of people by the volleyball net.

Ten minutes left. I wiggled my nose through the opening, thrashing my head to widen the gap. The zipper gave a bit. Not much, not enough.

I heard Cassie's voice nearby, and remembered my discovery when Humphries and I entered the car.

(CASSIE! CASSIE! IT'S ME DEREK! I'M IN FERRET MORPH!)

"What?" I heard Cassie say.

"I didn't say anything," someone replied. I realized that Cassie couldn't thought-speak back. And she couldn't talk out loud, or it would look suspicious.

(Cassie,) I said more calmly, (I'm in a tote bag lying in the sand I can't get out! My morph time is up. I think I'm near the volleyball net. Help!)

I heard the scrunch of the sand. I saw bare brown toes. Cassie's concerned face suddenly loomed in my vision.

"Derek, is that you?" she whispered.

(It's me! Hurry!)

Cassie unzipped the tote and casually tucked me under her arm. She strolled towards the dunes.

"Almost there," she murmured.

She climbed over the dunes and set me down. She looked around.

"Okay hurry!"

I didn't need her to tell me. I concentrated on me. I felt my legs getting longer, the fur on my skin grew patchy and my ears grew rounder. My tail shrank.

Cassie wrinkled her nose. "Ewww. That's the worst morph I've seen so far."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," I said, glad to feel that I had a mouth. "I haven't had much practice. That was my first morph."

"Yet you managed clothes," Cassie said clearly impressed, "It took my second try."

Rachel appeared over the dune. "Hurry up Cassie," she said, "Oh hey Derek. Come on." She spoke in a low tone; "Tobias just demorphed from hawk and Jake is going to morph into his dog, Homer."

"Dogs and hawks and ferret," I said suddenly feeling hopeless. "What a bunch of feeb morphs. How are we going to fight Visser Three with those?"

Something fierce flashed in Rachel's eyes. I glimpsed something that I had never seen on pretty popular Rachel. The girl is a _warrior._

"You've got a point," Rachel said.

To Quillian: I've been reading your fiction, it's in my favorites. I just haven't reviewed because of computer problems. I'm glad you enjoy this, even though for now it's semi-predictable. You need not worry about the connection to Stargate just yet, as it will be a while before Ax realizes that there is one on earth, and of course we need to meet Ax first. I've never seen Stargate Atlantis, but SG-1 is my favorite show on TV now. This story takes place around mid-season 3 three.

To Omegadragon: I'll finish War when I feel inspired by it agian. I can't rush it or it will turn out crappy. To answer your second question: yes characters from Stargate SG1 will appear in this fic...eventually.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

Things happened way fast after the meeting on the beach. Too fast. While Jake was in dog morph, he learned that Assistant Principal Chapman was a Controller. I didn't say it to anyone else, but that scared me half to death. Not because Chapman was a Controller, but because his daughter was Melissa Chapman. It's kind of freaky when the girl that you have a crush on could be part of an alien conspiracy to take over the world.

Less than a week later Jake morphed into a lizard to spy on Chapman and accidentally discovered an entrance to the Yeerk Pool. Tobias had filled me in on the Yeerk pool. It was where the Yeerks had to leave their hosts every three days in order to absorb Kandrona Rays. Jake was meeting us at the mall to fill us in on what he'd discovered. It had seemed like a safe place, considering that nobody notices kids hanging out at the mall.

"Screams," Jake said. "Human screams. They sounded far off, but that's what they were."

Jake had been munching a lot of the big basket of nachos that we had bought to share.

"You were a lizard at the time," Marco pointed out. "Who knows what you heard?"

"I know," Jake said.

"I can't stand the thought of what's happening to people down there," Cassie said. She shuddered. "It's sickening."

"We have to do something," Rachel said.

"Yeah, let's rush down right down there," Marco said. "Then it can be _us_ screaming."

"Marco you can't just ignore what's going on," Rachel said.

"Sure I can," he said. "All I have to do is remind myself that hey, guess what? I don't want to die."

"That's it then," Rachel demanded, outraged. "Just whatever's best for Marco?"

"I don't think Marco is being selfish," Cassie said. "Just the opposite. He's thinking about what would happen to his dad if Marco…"

"He's not the only one who's got people to worry about," Rachel said. "I have a family. We all do."

"Not me," Tobias said softly. He smiled sadly. "It's true. No one gives a rat's rear about me."

"I do," Rachel said. That was a little surprising to me. I don't think I'd have guessed that Rachel and Tobias would be some kind of couple.

"Look," Jake said. "I'm not asking anyone else to go with me. But I don't have a choice. I heard that scream today. And I know that Tom is going down tonight. He's my brother. I have to try and save him." He held out his hands, helpless. "I have to do it. For Tom."

"I'll go with you," Tobias said. "For the Andalite."

"Me too," I said speaking up for the first time in a while. "I've always said that you should never have to be a afraid to do what's right. There is a reason we all ended up at the construction site that night. I'm in."

"Thanks," Jake said.

"There's no one else who _can_ do anything to stop these Yeerks," Rachel said. "I'm scared death just thinking about it. But I'm there."

Marco looked sick, and gave Jake a dirty look. He shook his head. "This is bad," he said. "This is so bad. If it wasn't for Tom I'd just walk away."

"Look, Marco, you don't have to--," Jake started to say.

"Oh shut up!" he snapped. "You're my best friend you jerk. Like I'm going to let you face all of this alone? I'm in. I'm in, to rescue Tom. That's it. Then I'm done."

Only Cassie had remained silent. She was looking dreamily off over the heads of the mall crowd. "You know, back in the old days—I mean the real, _real _old days – the Africans, the early Europeans, the Native Americans," she looked at me and smiled. "They all believed that animals had spirits. And they would call on those spirits to protect them from evil. They would ask the spirit of the Fox for his cunning. They'd ask the spirit of the Eagle for his sight. They'd ask the lion for his strength."

"American Indians," I said softly and then nodded. "Cassie's right." I said, "My grandfather used to take me on nature walks, and point out the various animals and plants that our people used to use to help us. My dad always said that everything that Man invented, God invented first and better. The Andalite technology has pretty much given us access to God's closet. We can now use what he invented. We've become the skin-walkers from my grandpa's stories."

"Will that strength be enough?" Jake wondered.

"I don't know," Cassie admitted solemnly. "It's kinda like Derek said though. It's as if God just gave us use of his animals to battle these Yeerks. All of the forces on this planet are being brought into the battle."

Marco rolled his eyes, "Thank you Derek and Cassie for your lovely story. But we're just six normal kids. Up against the Yeerks. If it were a football game who would you bet on? We're toast."

"Don't be so sure," Cassie said, "We're fighting for Mother Earth. She has some tricks up her sleeves."

"Good grief," Marco said. "Let's all buy Birkenstocks and go hug some trees."

We all laughed, including Cassie.

"Their right about one thing," Rachel said seriously. "The only thing that we have going for us is this morphing thing. And so far the only morphs we've acquired are a cat, a bird, a dog, a horse, a ferret, and a lizard. Derek said a few days ago that all we had were feeble morphs, he was right. We need firepower. We should head for The Gardens. We need to acquire more DNA ---from some animals that are not going to be easy to acquire."

"Yeah," Jake said. "Somehow I don't think that the hawk, ferret, horse, and lizard team is going to impress the Yeerks. Rachel's right. I think that we need some of the big guns from God's closet." He looked at Cassie. "Can you get us in?"

"I can get in free," she said. "You guys will have to pay, but I can use my mom's employee discount, so it'll be cheaper."

"Oh, I'm sure we could talk them into letting us in for nothing," Marco said. "Just tell them we're Animorphs."

"Tell them we're what?" Rachel asked.

"Idiot teenagers with a death wish," Marco said.

"Animorphs," Jake said.

"Animorphs," I said repeating him, "I like the sound of that."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

We left straight from the mall, hopping a bus to The Gardens, which is clear across town.

"I don't really need to go in," Tobias said as we pooled our limited cash to buy tickets. Before the army moved us out here my dad was stationed in St. Louis. The St. Louis zoo is free. The Gardens is not.

"I'm happy with just my hawk morph. I don't want to be anything else."

"I think that's a mistake," Rachel said. "Our one real weapon is the power to morph. We should acquire as many useful morphs as we can."

"What kind of animal morphs are going to be able to deal with Visser Three when he turns into that big monster that ate the Andalite?" Jake asked.

"Antarean Bogg," I said slowly. I'm not even sure why I remembered it. I certainly didn't want to.

Marco winked. "Fleas? No one can kill fleas. We'll itch him to death."

Jake smiled, "So now you're suddenly Mr. Hopeful?"

"No, I'm just scared I'm getting weird," he said. "I haven't done this morphing stuff. You guys all have. I'm not even a full-fledged Animorph yet. I'm still normal."

"I still feel normal," Cassie said.

"Cassie you can turn into a horse," Marco said. "Very few normal kids can do that it's different for Jake, turning into a lizard. He's always been a reptile."

Jake took a good-natured swing at his friend. Me I was nervous. I was thinking ahead. I knew logically that to acquire lion and tiger and bear DNA, we'd have to touch one. And there's nothing really that can prepare you for getting up close and personal with a deadly animal.

"Okay, now everybody stay together, and try not to be to suspicious looking," she said as we approached an inconspicuous doorway. "I'm taking you inside."

"Inside where?" Marco asked.

I rolled my eyes as Cassie explained where we were going.

"Well the way it works is, there are walkways behind all of these exhibits." She pointed at the doorway. "Anyway we can go in through there."

It was strange walking into the hallway. It smelled must like the boy's locker room.

"Okay, look, if any staff people stop us, the story is we're here to see my mom," Cassie said. "Of course, it's so late in the afternoon she won't be here…. Well I can't be saving the world from alien invaders if I'm grounded. Hopefully, there won't be any staff people here at all."

We walked past exhibit doorways for a while until we got to one. Cassie paused.

"How do you guys feel about gorillas?" Cassie asked. At first I thought she was kidding. "This is Big Jim's cage. He just came over from another zoo, so he's in his own private environment for now. He's very gentle."

"Oh," Jake asked incredulously. "You mean does one of us want to acquire his DNA?"

"That is why we're here Jake," Rachel said. She batted her eyes at Marco. "How about you, Marco? Haven't you always wanted to be a big, hairy guy?"

Marco didn't look like he was crazy about the guy, and frankly neither was I, I was still hoping it would be Marco and not me. Fortunately Jake knew how to handle Marco.

"Maybe Marco should try something easier for his first morph," Jake said. "You know, like a cuddly little koala or something."

"Koala!" Marco said giving Jake a dirty look.

"Open that door Cassie." He hesitated. "You said gentle, right?"

"Gorillas are extremely gentle," Cassie said. Then in a quieter voice, she added, "Unless you get them mad."

Cassie opened her backpack and handed Marco the apple, and gave him some last minute instructions. Big Jim the gorilla came right up to the security gate.

"Hand him the apple," Cassie directed. "He wants the apple."

"I loved your work in _King Kong Verses Godzilla,_" Marco said, and before I knew it he was actually acquiring Big Jim's DNA.

"This is so cool," Tobias said. "You realize that gorilla could pull Marco apart like he was a paper doll. Look at those arms."

Marco opened one eye. "Tobias? Being terrified gets inn the way of concentrating. So how about if you shut up about his arms."

I snickered, and suddenly heard a whirring sound. It was one of those electric golf carts.

"Just act natural," Cassie said. "As long as it isn't a security guy we're probably okay."

The cart came up to us. The driver was a man wearing a stained, tan lab coat over his jeans. In the back of the cart were two large white plastic buckets full of something brown and horrid smelling. "Hey you're Cassie, right? The doc's kid? How's it going?"

"Fine," Cassie said. She waved casually, and the man drove right on past.

"That was easy," Rachel said. "He didn't even seem to care that we're back here."

"We'll, where to next?" I asked. We were at a four-way corner. There were blank white-painted hallways in all directions and an electric golf cart was parked there, too.

"What are we near?" Jake asked Cassie.

She thought for a moment. "Okay that walkway leads to the outer exhibits. That one leads to the offices and storage facilities. These two go around the main building exhibits. We're close to…let me see…um, bats and snakes that way. The jaguar and dolphin tank that way."

Rachel started down the hallway to our right.

"Dolphins. I love dolphins."

"Wait," Cassie said, trotting after her. "What are we going to do with Dolphin morphs?"

"I say we should go to the big exhibits," Marco said. "We need firepower."

"Let's stick together," Jake said as he grabbed Marco before he got too far.

That's when the voice yelled, "Hey! Hey, you! What are you kids doing back here?"

"Security," Cassie yelped. "Oh, man they'll take us all into the office. They'll call my mom. I do _not _want to explain this to her."

"Split up," Jake said. "Just like at the construction site: One guy can't get us all!"

"That guy looks like my grandfather," Rachel said. "Not like that Hork-Bajir who was after us."

"You kids hold on!"

"Oh, man. Oh, man," Cassie said. With that, Tobias and the girls took off down one hallway, and Jake and Marco down another.

I paused, but only for a moment, and then bolted back down the hallway that we came from. Behind me I heard the golf cart start up and begin whirring. I groaned, realizing that in a golf cart he'd easily catch up with us.

The corridors were a maze, but I figured that I could use that to my advantage. I faked left and went right. Before long I realized that the guard wasn't following me.

Now I was alone again. No big deal, I've been alone before. I didn't like it, but I could deal with it.

I glanced at a nearby door. I wished Cassie were here to tell me what was behind each door. I opened one cautiously.

At first all I saw were treetops. The door opened out onto a little ledge, concealed by leaves. It was high above the habitat of the animal, whatever the animal was. I peered down. Something moved at my level, and I jumped back in alarm.

A giraffe was almost eye-level with me. It turned its velvety brown eyes at me and blinked long eyelashes.

"Hey there," I said softly. I shook the tree branch a little. I knew that giraffes fed on treetops. I didn't think that they attacked humans—I hoped, anyway."

The giraffe stopped moving. So this was it, this was the trance. It was so strange that I could put such large, strong creature to sleep. I closed my eyes and concentrated, absorbing the giraffe's DNA.

"Thanks," I said when I was done, and patted the giraffe gently.

I slipped back into the corridor. That encounter went so well that it gave me tons of confidence. I continued down a sloping ramp. When I came to the next door I opened it and slipped inside.

I was in a savannah. Dry trees, sand. Hot, but a dry heat. I didn't see the animal at first: I heard it.

"ERRRR-UP! EURRR-UP! RRR-UP!"

The cry raised the hair on the back of my neck. It was too close to human. The animal was wavering on long front legs. The fur was sandy-colored and coarse.

"He should be down by now," a voice said. I quickly hid behind some food bins as the door opened.

Two white jacket workers came in. "Takes a few minutes," the other said. "We better wait until he's completely out."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't go near a hyena otherwise," the first one said. He peered into the enclosure. "He's down."

"Okay, lets go. The vet's waiting. Oh darn. I left the stretcher by the elevator."

"Well I'm not staying here alone."

The two workers exited. I took it as a sign. I crept towards the sleeping hyena. Just as I approached it opened one eye. The look is deadly, like a shark's. As if my only worth was for food.

It was too late to run back now. I gathered my courage and brushed my hand alone the creature's side. "Nighty night," I whispered.

The acquisition trance combined with the tranquilizers has made the hyena pass out. I concentrated. As soon as I was done, I ran away. Fast.

I felt a little smug at the same time though. I tried to imagine my newly acquired hyena morph fighting a Hork-Bajir.

When I closed the door behind me, I noticed the white-jacketed workers were headed towards me with a stretcher.

"Hey," one of them called.

"Stop," The other one said. They tossed aside the stretcher. They started to run towards me. I could've waited and thought up a story. But it just seemed easier to run.

To Quillian—I don't know how long it will be, but I was wondering if my universe could run parallel to yours? My meaning being, I wanted to know if the _Kelbrid _in my universe could be the same as the _Kelbrid _in your universe? I checked out the last few books from the library and thus I have finally now read the entire series. Your _Kelbrid _were cooler than anything I could think up and thus I want to steal from you. I don't know when or even if my characters will ever even encounter a _Kelbrid_ but I wanted to know if it was okay should the situation arise. Please let me know via your next review.

To Seeker—It certainly does.

To John—Hyena, it was pretty obvious that that was the battle morph I was going to give Derek. This is based on Alternamorphs 1. Everybody should have seen that coming.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

I sprinted around a corner—straight into a security guard.

"Whoa," He said. Two strong hands gripped my arms. "Where are you going?"

"The workers came up behind me. They were out of breath. "Tried to break into the hyena habitat," one of them said gasping.

The grip tightened. "So what's your name son?"

I considered telling the truth. Well, obviously not the whole truth. One of these guys could be a Controller. But I considered telling them that I knew Cassie's mom. Only thing was, that might have gotten Cassie in trouble. And it could've brought to much attention to the others. So I said nothing.

He frowned. "We got reports of vandals in the park. Come along with me."

He marched me down the corridor into a small waiting room. There were two policemen there. _Great, just what I need, _I thought.

"I know that you were called about a disturbance by the snack bar," the security guard said. "But Nemo here was caught sneaking into the animal habitats."

The taller policeman sighed. Obviously he didn't want to be saddled with some kid. "Let's move," he said.

They kept me between them as they marched me outside to a loading area behind the snack bar. A police van was parked there. On the side of the van were the words _K-9 Unit._

"Strange for a kid to be sneaking into animal cages," one of the policemen said.

"They aren't cages," the other said. "They're habitats."

"Whatever. Sit here." The taller policeman put a hand on my shoulder and shoved me down onto a bench. "And don't think about moving. Dakota, and Sue won't take it to kindly."

Two German Shepherds bounded out of the police van and sat down in front of me. One of the dogs bared its teeth.

"Stay," The policeman said, and moved off to go talk on the van radio.

I knew I had to get away. In just a few hours I was supposed to meet the others at school to invade the Yeerk pool. My only choice was to morph. I knew that my new hyena and giraffe morphs could easily over power the dogs and get away. But I was smarter than that. The answer was right in front of me.

I reached over to the K-9 dog named Dakota. I pressed my hand slowly against his coat. I seriously didn't want him to bite me.

His eyes closed as once again I absorbed a new DNA pattern into me. The police had their back turned. It was now or never.

I focused on the image of the German Shepherd. There was that strange sensation again, of bones crunching, things growing that shouldn't be growing. I touched my ears and felt fur. I suddenly dropped down onto all fours and noticed that I had paws instead of hands and feet.

I was wearing the sweatpants and T-shirt that I had interrogated as my "morphing outfit". My shoes however refused to morph. I kicked off my shoes and socks under the bench as my morph finished.

The smells hit me immediately. Did you know that various breeds of dogs were chosen for the features that made them better than wolves? The German Shepherd actually has a better sense of smell than a wolf.

I could smell everything! Food! People! Animals! It was overwhelming at first. The other dogs cocked their heads and looked at me curiously. Dakota sniffed me and howled. After all, he smelled himself.

The two policemen looked over.

"Hey Seidel," the taller one said. "Thought you only brought two dogs."

"Must have loaded a third—hey! The kid's missing!"

There was something odd about the way that these two smelled. A faint scent that the K-9 dog mind didn't recognize or like.

I rushed over. I stood alert, tail twitching, like the other dogs. I wasn't just a dog after all. I was a cop. I had good discipline.

_It's a good morph,_ I thought. _In a minute, they'll give up on the kid who stuck a toe in the wrong habitat. Big deal. Not like I'm a big bad criminal. They'll load me into the van, take me back to the station, and I can take off from there._

"This isn't good, Finley," Seidel said.

"We're supposed to be on alert," Finley answered, frowning. "Especially for kids."

_What?_

"Wait here's a shoe." Seidel spied one of the sneakers that I had kicked off when I was morphing. "The dogs can track the kid."

He held the sneaker under my nose. Scent roared in. _My_ scent. The other dogs sniffed then strained at the leashes.

"We'll keep the one off-line, see what happens," Finley said.

The two dogs took off and I followed, my nose to the ground, then in the air. Incredible. I could smell myself. I could follow the air currents, know where I walked and stopped.

The dogs followed my trail too the admission booth. They circled and I did, too. Of course I knew which way I went. So I went in the opposite direction, but the other two took off down the sidewalk. Darn!

I bounded up behind them while the cops held the two leashes. Why hadn't I walked on the sidewalk? That would have confused the scent. Instead, I had stuck to the grassy part near the curb. The dog could smell my trail easily.

"They've picked it up," Seidel said. He sounded relieved. More relived than he should have since he was only tracking a kid.

"Chapman says that at least one of the kids infiltrated The Sharing meeting," Finley said.

It hit me then what the smell lingering around the cops was. They were Controllers.

I knew that they couldn't follow my scent to my home, since I had taken a bus from the mall. I had taken the bus to the Civic Center though, and walked from there to The Gardens. I had left a note on my mom's car windshield. If the Controller-Cops found it…

"I reported that kid who was hanging around the dunes," Seidel said. "I'll go pick her up later. It won't be long before she's one of us."

_Cassie. _She was the one who'd hung out on the dunes, watching over Jake in his dog morph. Cassie was in danger! I had to warn he. Warn the others.

The other dogs lost my scent. I almost lost it myself. I was in a more trafficked area of town now, near the Civic Center.

I hurried past the Garage, but the other dogs suddenly picked up my scent. They raced into the garage. The cops followed, running after them.

"This isn't good," Seidel said in a low voice. I picked up his words easily with my dog hearing.

"Visser Three won't like it," Finley said in a worried tone

"So we won't tell him."

The dogs lost the scent amid the oil stains and the gasoline. They circled around, confused. But any minute they could find my mom's car. The note I left might still be tucked under the windshield wiper. It wouldn't take the cops long to figure out who I was. This was my only chance.

I leapt forward, barking as if I had picked up the scent. I charged out of the garage. The other dogs followed. I knew that I couldn't lead them completely astray so I headed back to my neighborhood.

I ran flat out so that they had trouble keeping up with me. But I made sure that they kept me in sight.

I got to the Ferret Lady's house and barked furiously outside. I circled the house and found the pet door. I nosed it open and bound inside.

The cops caught up and pounded on the door. The Ferret Lady answered it. But already I'd caused a commotion. The ferrets were running crazily over the furniture. The cat was hissing and spitting. The other dogs were adding to the chaos.

"What is it?" The Ferret Lady shouted over the din.

"We're chasing a kid," Seidel said. "Tall, about 13, black hair, medium skin?"

"Sounds like every kid in this neighborhood," the Ferret lady sniffed. "I don't care if Visser Three himself asks me, I'll say the same."

So far, so good. I'd confused them. Under the cover of the chaos, I snuck next door and grabbed a sweatshirt that I had left outside after doing chores this morning. I grabbed it in my mouth and raced off.

I took the sweatshirt all over the neighborhood, rubbing it against trees and sidewalks and grass. Soon, I saw the cops and the K-9 dogs again. The dogs were barking, running from place to place while the cops strained to hold onto the leashes.

I kept hidden and watched the cops get thoroughly confused. They gave up, and I trotted back home.

I morphed back to human form in my garage. I hurried inside to call Cassie. But everyone had left already. If I rushed to the school now, I knew I might blow their cover.

There had to be another way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

It was getting late, and I was freaked. Cassie was definitely in danger. I considered going over to the school and trying to catch up with the others. A bad idea. I couldn't risk blowing whatever cover they might have. Yet, at the same time couldn't stay at home while the other Animorphs put their lives on the line.

There was this suspicion that was nagging at me. During the chase, the policemen had seemed very nervous at the parking garage. They muttered about Visser Three. There might be something going on over there.

It was only a little bit out of my way, and since not many people can out-handle me on a bicycle, I decided to investigate the garage before heading to the school. The garage is used during the day for city government workers. Right now, though, it's pretty deserted except for a security guard. I ducked behind a car and waited until he headed down the ramp towards the entrance.

I was about to explore when I saw the guard wave in a large black van with tinted windows. Curious, I watched as the van headed up the ramp.

Instead of parking, the van pulled up directly in front of the elevators. A group of people got out. I recognized Jake's brother Tom. Controllers!

Someone pushed the button to summon the elevator. I knew that I had to follow this group, but I also knew that I couldn't stay in human form. I didn't know if Tom would recognize me or not, but I didn't want to chance it.

I had four morphs, Hyena, Giraffe, Ferret, and K-9 German Shepherd. The Hyena and Giraffe morphs I automatically ruled out. They would have seemed out of place anyway.

My K-9 dog seemed like a good morph, but I dismissed it. Like they would even let a dog onto the elevator. This job required stealth. Precision. I suddenly realized the full potential of this awesome power that the Andalite had given me. To change into animals meant I could change my size. I could shrink or grow. I could breath underwater, and I could fly

In this instance however, there was only one way to go. Ferret time.

I concealed myself in a dark corner of the garage. I felt the ground rush up at me as my bones compressed. Hair grew on my hands, on my face. My nose twitched. My body became sleek, and the ferret mind urged me to play. There were so many things to investigate in the garage! Wonderful smells, and things to eat.

I wrenched my ferret brain under control. Keeping to the wall, I got close to the group. As a small animal, I figured I wouldn't be noticed, but I also didn't want to take chances. The elevator dinged, and the first group crowded in. I slunk closer.

Dare I risk going onto the elevator? The lights on the elevator were bright, and I'd probably be noticed there. Normally humans would scream if they saw a furry creature in a small space with them. But these weren't normal humans. These were Human-Controllers. They might not care.

I had to chance it.

I slunk between the legs of the Controllers and headed for the corner. The doors closed.

"We have company," one of the Controllers said. They all looked down.

"It's not a cat," someone said.

"It's not a dog," someone else said. I resisted the urge to say, (Well _duh_! Genius, do I look like a dog to you?)

The Controller who seemed to be in charge turned and then gave me a dismissive glance. "Catch it. I'll throw it down the shaft."

Busted! I couldn't move I was frozen with fear.

"Wait," Tom said. "I've seen that animal. It's called a ferret. Belongs to Humphries, Mala Six-One-Three's host. Maybe we shouldn't touch it. Iniss said to take no chances."

"All right, Temrash," The other Controller said, turning his back, already bored with the conversation.

I was safe—for now.

The elevator indicator lit up at the sublevel floor. That's as far down as the parking garage goes. But the Controller hit a series of buttons, and the elevator didn't stop. I made out the buttons barely with my fuzzy ferret vision: 9-4-6-6. I memorized it, figuring it might be important later.

The door opened into a room that seemed carved out of dirt and rock. Sheetrock was nailed up against the walls. I slunk out of the elevator and followed the group into a concealed door that led to an iron staircase.

I went down, down, down. My ferret eyes adjusted to the light, and my nose picked up the smell of dampness. I heard something, a comforting sound that reassured me for a brief moment. Like waves against a shore.

Then I heard the screams. Human cries of anguish, suffering. And I picked up a horrifyingly familiar smell: Taxxons.

I didn't want to see what was ahead. I didn't want to move. Dread filled me. It was so much more enormous than being afraid of a test, or the dentist.

I'd only hesitated a moment, but the Controllers have disappeared around a turning. I darted forward.

The first thing that hit me was how big the place was. It was about three times the size of the mall. Think Super Bowl stadium times two. And was all completely open, and carved out of rock and earth. There were still enormous pieces of earthmoving equipment down there, as though the space was constantly being expanded upon. I noticed other staircases winding up and disappearing. Jake was wrong. The Yeerk pool wasn't under the school. There had to be entrances under the entire town! The Yeerks were much more numerous than any of us had imagined.

That's when I noticed the cages. They were filled with humans and Hork-Bajir. Some of them were screaming. Some just sat numbly. Taxxons and Hork-Bajir patrolled outside the cages. Occasionally, one of the Hork-Bajir lashed out with a tail blade and rattled the cage. The humans shrank back, and the Yeerk-controlled Hork-Bajir let out those chucking sounds I'd heard at the construction site.

As I watched, to the best of my ability with ferret senses, one of the Hork-Bajir opened a cage and lead out a woman. She struggled, and the Hork-Bajir casually held a bladed wrist to her throat. I had no doubt he would slash her in a second. The Hork-Bajir led her onto a pier. It went out over a pool that looked as though it was filled with moving sludge. He forced her head under the surface. When he jerked her head back up, I saw a gray-green slimy thing finish slithering inside her ear. The woman stopped struggling.

And then I spotted Tom again. Another pier, he bent his head over the pool. The same slimy thing slid out of his ear.

Immediately, he began to scream. I couldn't hear the words, but I could imagine. The Hork-Bajir put a blade to this throat, but he struggled and fought anyway. It took three of them to get him to a cage and throw him inside.

I felt sick. Sick to my little ferret bones. I couldn't fight this. What made me think I could fight this? I should turn around and go back up while I could. Wait to fight another day.

Because it was hopeless, I didn't think it was possible, but I wanted to give up.

Then I saw Cassie. That policeman, Seidel, was dragging her down the "infestation" pier. Dragging her to Yeerk slime to invade her brain.

It was still hopeless, but rage filled me and sent my blood pumping. I remembered what it was that I always said: "You _never_ have to be afraid to do what's right." I was afraid, of being killed or being infested by a Yeerk, but I wasn't afraid to do the right thing. I was ready to fight.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or Stargate SG-1_

I scampered down the steps. No one noticed me as I darted across the floor. I looked like a mole or some other creature of the underground. A breeze tickled my fur and whiskers.

I froze. A breeze? Down here?

I looked up. A hawk had just flown over my head. It circled the air above Cassie.

(Tobias? Is that you?) I called.

(Derek? Is that you? Where were you? We didn't know what happened to you after The Gardens, man.)

(It's me,) I said, (I ran into some problems at The Gardens, but nothing morphing into a K-9 German Shepherd couldn't fix)

(Where are you now?) Tobias asked. He paused and seemed to consider. (_What _are you now, since you're using thought-speak?)

(Cool,) Tobias answered. (I got you now. We need all the help we can get. The others are about twenty feet behind you. We have to save Cassie!)

(Keep an eye on her. I'll be back.)

I scurried across the floor to the others. They were pretty easy to spot, the only kids staring in horror at the scene.

(Hey, it's me!) I called in though-speak. (Tobias said you guys were worried about me.)

The Animorphs looked around wildly. I felt slightly annoyed, but of course you can't really tell where thought-speak comes from.

(Look down.)

Marco almost jumped to the ceiling. "Why did you have to pick a rat?" he whispered.

(I'm not a rat, I'm a ferret,) I said, offended. (I'm closer to a cat or a dog than a rodent. I like humans. I don't bite.)

"Great," Marco muttered. "A rat who pretends to be a dog. Just what we need."

(You know, I can always make an exception to the biting thing,) I added.

Jake bent down to speak with me. "If I were you, I'd morph back to human. You might need a better morph than ferret. This place is crawling with Taxxons and Hork-Bajir."

(All right,) I said. (But Jake, I came down here with Tom! He's here! In a cage!)

"I saw him," Jake said tersely. His face told me everything. I couldn't imagine how awful it must be to see your brother like that.

I scurried behind a storage shed. Quickly, I morphed back to human. I thanked God that I had figured out how to morph clothes so quickly. Even if it was only a tight T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

Rachel poked her head around the shed.

"You'd better stay here. You need to gather your strength if you're going to morphs again. We'll come back when it's time."

I leaned against the storage shed and closed my eyes. I concentrated on slow breathing gathering my strength for the next morph.

It wasn't long before the others returned. Jake and Marco slid up next to me.

"You okay?" he asked. Morphing could be exhausting.

"What are you doing back there?" a voice said.

It's a human-Controller! Standing next to him was a Hork-Bajir, blade arms at the ready. A Taxxon stood on the other side, his spidery legs twitching, red Jell-O eyes glowing.

"Who are you?"

"Us," Marco asked. "Who are we? Hey, who are _you_?"

"Take them," the man ordered.

The Hork-Bajir advanced on us. The Taxxon slithered forward on its dozens of sharp spiny legs.

That's when I noticed Rachel. She was behind the guards. Rachel. Only it was Rachel with a long, long nose. A trunk. She was morphing into an elephant!

A braying noise filled the air as she felt the Elephant's power. (Ha HA! I did it.) She crowed.

The Taxxon noticed her first, but I guess he didn't know how to react.

Rachel charged. The Hork-Bajir was fast. He spun around and slashed at her trunk with his elbow blade.

Too little, too late.

(Puny little nothing!) Rachel cried outraged. (You attack ME!)

The Hork-Bajir went down, crushed under Rachel's monstrous feet.

The Taxxon tried to run. It turns out that Taxxons can move when they want to. It also turns out that elephants are faster than they look. The Taxxon didn't make it too far.

The human just stood there. He said, "An elephant?" Like he couldn't even think about _it_ being real.

Rachel wrapped her trunk around his middle.

(Yeah,) she said. (An elephant.)

He must have figured out it was real, cause he started screaming. I never saw where he landed.

"Let's morph!" Jake cried.

"Nice work Rachel," Marco said. "Remind me never to make you mad."

I looked over at Cassie. She was almost at the end of the pier. That gave me an extra burst of strength. I concentrated hard. On the image of one of scariest animals I'd ever had the misfortune to run across.

I felt something grow out of my back. A tail. Sandy colored fur sprouted up all over my body. My ears became round and my head got big. My teeth sharpened into deadly instruments of terror.

I was a very fierce, hungry, and very angry hyena. And I had no fear.

The hyena's mind was within my own. It was different from the ferret, and the K-9 dog. The hyena was a murderous killer. Something between raving psychopath, and killer ax-murderer. If I had morphed the hyena at any other time I don't think I would have been able to control its mind. But I, Derek, was very angry. I wanted to hurt, and the hyena wanted that too. Our brains fell so perfectly in sync at that moment that I knew I'd never have a problem with the hyena brain again.

You look at the hyenas in _The Lion King_ and you think you know them and don't like them because they're the bad guys. That's only the wimpy Disney version of hyenas. They're thousands of times worse. Disney was right about some things though. Lions and hyenas don't like to mess with each other.

I started towards Cassie, but a Taxxon got in the way. Not a problem. I ripped into him with my teeth. He tried to bite me back but a hyena is such an efficient killing machine that he was dead before he registered the pain. The hyena sniffed at the dead Taxxon and decided that Taxxons were not edible.

That was a little funny since in the wild a hyena will eat just about anything.

Marco was now Big Jim the gorilla. His huge muscles allowed him to punch Hork-Bajir, and the Hork-Bajir went down.

I saw a Siberian Tiger pounce on a Taxxon and take it down. Had to be Jake. I was instantly jealous. Jake acquired a tiger? That was so cool. I made a promise to myself to one day acquire a tiger.

To my surprise the hyena mind had no desire to attack my friends in morph. Even Marco the gorilla, who was prey in the wild. The murderous hyena instincts looked at them and it didn't even cross the hyena brain to attack them.

_Of course foolish human,_ the hyena seemed to say, _you don't attack the pack. You attack prey, and enemies, but not your pack._

Marco tossed another Hork-Bajir into the air like a doll. The rest scattered. So they _are _afraid of something.

We _owned _this place.

Marco was the only one of us with dexterity, so he headed towards the cages to unlock them. Jake was already bounding toward Cassie. _Pack-mate in danger,_ the hyena said. I started forward to help Jake but a Hork-Bajir cut me off. He swiped at me with an elbow blade.

I sprung. I tore at his flesh, then jumped away. I stuck again, this time for the vulnerable fleshy part near his head. Wounded, I expected him to fall back. But instead he sprung forward, his elbow and wrist blades flashing. Rachel raised her foot and stomped.

(Thanks,) I said, the human part of me caused my hyena to shudder involuntarily.

(Another puny Hork-Bajir bites the dust,) Rachel said. She sounded positively bloodthirsty.

Tobias swooped down and clawed at the eyes of the Hork-Bajir who was holding Cassie at the end of the pier.

She broke away and ran.

(Morph!) I yelled along with Jake.

Even as I watched, Cassie's hair began to grow into a beautiful mane. It streamed out behind her as her legs extended, and she went down on all fours. It was amazing to see. Cassie was now completely horse.

(I say we follow Cassie and get out of here,) Rachel said.

(I'm right behind you,) I responded.

The people Marco released were panicking, running towards the stairs. The Hork-Bajir and Taxxon were trying to round them up. I slipped through them running hard.

Cassie and Jake leapt over surprised Taxxons. I remembered that Hork-Bajir weren't all that great on strategy so I faked left and went right…just like at The Gardens. I sailed over a pair of writ blades that tried to slash me at the last second.

I gained the stairs. Balls of flame exploded over my head. I leapt over a Taxxon who was aiming a Dracon beam at me: straight into the path of Visser Three.

(Whoops,) I said to the others. (Wrong way.)

Visser Three didn't look all that scary. Not compared to the Hork-Bajir or the Taxxons or even our earth animals. The hyena thought he looked like an antelope. I had to resist the urge to attack him. I knew that that would be fatal.

A Taxxon slithered up beside Visser Three and spoke. It was a weird, half-whistling sound.

"Ssssweer trrreeesswew eeeestrew."

The horrid evil voice filled my head. (This Taxxon fool says you are wild animals,) Visser Three said. (He wants to know if he and his brothers can eat you.) He laughed silently. (But I know you are not animals. I _know_ who and what you are. So. Not all of you Andalites died when I burned your ship.)

(He thinks we're Andalites,) I said privately to the others. I was already motoring my hyena legs away from the Visser.

(I compliment you on getting this far. But it will accomplish nothing. Because now, my brave Andalite warriors, it is time. Time to die.)

He began to morph.

(I acquired this body on the fourth moon of the second planet of a dying star. It is called an _Octiggarr. _Like it?)

He morphed into a creature as tall as a building. Eight legs. Eight arms. And eight heads. Even the hyena inside me felt doubt. I couldn't take on this creature.

Cassie nudged two humans now freed from their cages and tossed her head. They figured out that she wanted them to ride her. She carried them to the stairs.

(You can't escape!) Visser Three cried.

"You filthy creep!" Tom yelled. Jake's brother launched himself at Visser Three.

(NO!) Jake cried. He sprang at the huge creature that was Visser Three, straight towards the eyes. He clawed at the face. Visser Three howled in pain.

Fireballs exploded. One almost got Jake. Tom fell off the stairs.

(Jake, run!) Cassie cried urgently.

With a howl of anguish Jake turned and headed up the stairs. A fireball struck one of the two humans riding Cassie. Rachel began to demorph. Elephants can do a lot of things but climbing stairs isn't one of them.

(You can't run!) Visser Three cried.

_Oh yes we can._ I thought. The stairway narrowed. Visser Three hadn't counted on us making it this far. In his huge morph, he couldn't make it upstairs.

(I'll kill you all, Andalites. Run away, it doesn't matter! I'll kill you all!) The Visser screamed.

And so we ran, ran, ran up those stairs with a thousand nightmares on our heels.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The final count was exactly one human freed—the woman who rode Cassie's back up out of that hellish pit.

Cassie had gotten away clean. Seidel was the only Controller who knew her name, where she lived and that she'd been spying on The Sharing.

Tom, Jake's brother, unfortunately had not been freed. The whole reason that we had gone down there was for Tom. We had failed him.

He came home, the Yeerk in his head once more.

Cassie, Jake, Marco Rachel and myself made it up those stairs. We had emerged into the hallway of a school that would never be the same to us again.

Tobias survived too, though he would never be the same either. But in a different way.

The next morning I went to Jake's house to see if he was okay. When I walked into his room Tobias was there in hawk morph.

(Hey Derek,) Tobias said, a little wistfully. Jake was still asleep, and I didn't feel like waking him just yet.

"Hey Tobias," I said. "What's up? You fly here?"

(Yes,) he said. (I flew here.)

I guess it was from the tone of his "voice" but I knew that something was wrong.

"Tobias," I said. "What is it?"

(I made it out of the Yeerk Pool,) he said. (But it was difficult. I…there's a price for this gift the Andalite gave us. And I've paid it.)

"Oh, Tobias," I gasped.

(It's okay,) he said. (I think I can get used to it you know? Besides how many other kids get to fly?)

"Till the Andalites return," I whispered to him.

(Together we fight.)

**Don't miss The Animorph Chronicles # 2 The Visitor.**


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